Apologies for the truncated breakdown in this one, but our site was down for several hours and only just came back up right before the lineup dropped. Let’s hope it doesn’t matter and the Cubs jump all over the Pirates right out of the gate in this rare weekday matinee.
Ian Happ leads off in center, followed by Kris Bryant at third, Anthony Rizzo at first, and Javy Báez at short. Then it’s Kyle Schwarber in left, Willson Contreras catching, Jason Heyward in right, and Victor Caratini at DH. Jason Kipnis bats ninth at second base.
Alec Mills got off to a hot start, but he’s cooled quite a bit over his last four starts and has been plagued by mistakes that end up several rows deep in the outfield.